News

“International fashion house Gucci Group has pounced on the market opportunity inherent for third parties in the success of Apple Computer’s IPod music player—introducing its own designer IPod carrying case.

Available online through Gucci’s U.S. store, the iPod case is available in multiple colors and costs almost as much as an IPod—$195. The case is available in this season’s Gucci colors—beige/ebony GG plus with dark brown leather trim, green/red/green web carrying handle, and silver hardware.”

A reader notes that a a blog called GregHard.com has a tip on using your iPod to relieve anxiety, stress, and headaches.

“One way is to load some nice WAVE files of simulated brainwave frequencies onto your iPod. Some brainwave combos I have are Headache Treatments, Learning Aid (Studying and Subliminal), Self-Hypnosis, Sleep Inductions and Headache Treatments. It may seem silly, however science backs up many of these brainwave techniques as possible useful therapies, granted not for the long haul - if you have headaches a lot you may still need a head CT even if the headache brainwave works. And it won’t eliminate migraines.”

Lajo has announced the exoflpmini-fb, a silicone case featuring a flat back and a flip open dock connector port cover for easy access when docking the mini. This new case is available for $19 plus $5 shipping to anywhere in the world. Also note Lajo will soon be releasing a new TwistClip for the exo mini flat back cases.

Dealmac: The factory-refurbished iPod 40GB MP3 player, with dock and carrying case, is back at $399 in The Apple Store’s Special Deals section, as a reader found. That’s $30 less than the best price we’ve seen for a new, factory-sealed unit. Shipping is free, although sales tax is added where applicable. A one-year Apple warranty applies. Also available: the factory-refurbished iPod 10GB without dock for $249.

Google news has taken steps to prevent non-Google apps accessing and re-formatting their news, resulting in the very useful application GoogleGet becoming useless. Its writer has officially stopped the project.

“GoogleGet is no longer available for download and unfortunately none of the previous versions will work with the current Google News website.

The reason for this is pretty simple. During March 2004 Google made some changes to their servers that basically try to prevent non-browser software from downloading pages. I asked Google about this and they pointed me towards the terms of service that apply to that information, specifically part 3. This denies users the permission to reformat news information, or re-display it elsewhere. So, in respect of this I’ve decided to leave GooglGet behind.”

iSkin, Inc. today announced the iSkin mini case is now available for ordering. The new iSkin mini silicone case features; a screen protector, iSkin RevoClip, rear pores to promote heat dissipation, access to click wheel and functions, side “goose bumps” for increased anti-slip grip, compatible with iPod accessories that connect to the top of the iPod such as iTrip, and an integrated dock connector port cover. The iSkin mini costs $24.99 and comes in nine colors, including Ultra-GLO

“‘When we launch in Europe, we want to do it well. There can be no compromise on the ease of use, the depth of the catalog or the responsiveness (of the Web site),’ Apple’s European chief Pascal Cagni told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He added that a delay of a few months was acceptable because the store was going to be an important outlet for many years.

‘This is going to be so important for the future that a few months’ delay is not essential,’ he said. ‘But it will come. Absolutely,’ he added, when asked if he was sticking to the launch target year of 2004.”

Lajo has released a new version of the exo2mini-sb which features no mounting post on the back to attach a belt clip. “And because it does not have the metal implant to support SWVclip the savings from the chrome plate brass implant means a $2.50 reduction in the cost of the case and the savings are being passed onto you.” The soon to be released TwistClip allows you to wear it in both a vertical and horizontal position along with six other positions. Exo2mini-sb costs $17.50 plus $5 shipping to anywhere in the world in 3 colors with more colors promised before the end of this week.

The Mac Observer reports that in yesterday’s Q2 earnings report conference call, Tim Cook, Apple’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations, said the number of reported cases of audio problems is “extremely small.” Cook also said, “We’re highly confident with the (iPod) minis that we’re shipping,” Mr. Cook said. “We’ve seen some of those reports. They’re isolated online reports. We’re investigating those because we want to very much understand those. But I would tell you that the number of complaints that we’ve had from customers through AppleCare tech support is extremely small. However, anyone that is listening to the (conference) call that has a problem, please call the AppleCare because we want to take care of the issue.”

Tilt. Twist. Redeem. A USC freshman takes the iTunes-Pepsi tilt to heart. “As a USC freshman, I am forced to have a meal plan. This plan gives me $2500 “dining dollars” to spend over the semester. Given that it is incredibly difficult to purchase $2500 worth of food in such a short time, I realized I could turn this “money” into free songs on iTunes by purchasing Pepsi.” This person may hold the record for most iTunes-Pepsi bottles purchased at one time for a chance to win music.

“Jaffe has been wearing the same bright yellow shirt since April 5, hoping to win Apple’s promotional competition.

Jaffe is one of 30 members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity who are participating in Apple’s new promotional campaign that requires participants to wear a bright yellow shirt from April 5 to April 29 in order to win free iPods.

For the first time, the iPod has outsold Macintosh computers. “We feel great,” Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said in an interview. “We sold a lot of Macs, but we’ve sold more iPods in the quarter than all the Macs put together.”

MacMinute reports that Apple on Wednesday posted a net profit of US$46 million, or 12 cents a share, for its fiscal 2004 second quarter ended March 27, 2003. These results compare to a net profit of $14 million, or 4 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $1.909 billion, up 29 percent from last year. Apple said it shipped 749,000 Macs and 807,000 iPods during the quarter, representing a 5 percent increase in CPU units and a 909 percent increase in iPods over the year-ago quarter. “Apple had a great quarter with 29 percent revenue growth and 200 percent earnings per share growth year-over-year,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We experienced growth in most areas of our business-most dramatically in selling a record 807,000 iPods, up more than 900 percent over the prior year.”

Although the iSkin eVo case is not being released until approximately April 19th, i-magine is now accepting pre-orders, giving customers the opportunity to be one of the first in the UK to own one of these new iSkins. The iSkin eVo silicone case comes in many colors with the addition of five new colours and costs

Pacific Rim Technologies is offering a promotion on its “iShield I” iPod case. Purchase an iShield I case between April 15 thru May 1, 2004 for your 3G iPod and receive a free USB sync cable valued at $14.99. Also note, the “iShield I” price has been lowered to $19.99 until April 30.

Dealmac: Target.com slices 10% off with no minimum required via coupon code “TDAW2SAVETEN”. This offer includes iPods. After discount, the iPod 15GB costs $269.99. The iPod 20GB costs $359.99. The iPod 40GB costs $449.99. Sales tax and shipping are extra. (The iPod mini 4GB would cost $224.99, but it’s currently not available for ordering.) Offer ends April 30, 2004.

Today, Trendy Geek announced the release of the Pod Shield static cling wrap for iPods. “Pod Shield consists of two ultra thin plastic films that adheres to your Apple iPod via high static. The front film is cut perfectly to cover the iPods Screen. The back film is die-cut and provides scratch protection to the stainless steel backing of the Apple iPod. Both films are 100% transparent so you can barely see them when applied. Both films adhere strongly to the Apple iPod via high static. This means you can remove them without leaving any sticky residue behind.” The 6 peice kit comes with 3 backs and 3 fronts and costs $6.99.